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Tongue twister

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A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Some tongue-twisters produce results which are humorous (or humorously vulgar) when they are mispronounced, while others simply rely on the confusion and mistakes of the speaker for their amusement value.

Students at a Taiwanese cram school timing themselves reading the English tongue-twister "Peter Piper".

Types of tongue-twisters

Tongue-twisters may rely on rapid alternation between similar but distinct phonemes (e.g., s [s] and sh [ʃ]), unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a spoken language in order to be difficult to articulate. For example, the following sentence was claimed as "the most difficult of common English-language tongue-twisters" by William Poundstone[1]

The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.

This type of tongue-twister was incorporated into a popular song in 1908, with words by British songwriter Terry Sullivan and music by Harry Gifford. It was said to be inspired by the life and work of Mary Anning.[2]

She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.
The shells she sells are sea-shells, I'm sure.
For if she sells sea-shells on the sea-shore
Then I'm sure she sells sea-shore shells.

A slight variant replaces "on" with "by".

Many tongue-twisters use a combination of alliteration and rhyme. They have two or more sequences of sounds that require repositioning the tongue between syllables, then the same sounds are repeated in a different sequence. An example of this is the song Betty Botter[citation needed] (listenⓘ):


Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.
The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter
And made her batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter makes better batter.
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter
Making Betty Botter's bitter batter better

The following twister won the "grand prize" in a contest in Games Magazine in 1979:[3]

Shep Schwab shopped at Scott's Schnapps shop;
One shot of Scott's Schnapps stopped Schwab's watch.

Some tongue-twisters take the form of words or short phrases which become tongue-twisters when repeated rapidly (the game is often expressed in the form "Say this phrase three (or five, or ten, etc.) times as fast as you can!"). Some examples include:

A Proper Copper Coffee Pot.
Betty bopper's battering batton made bertie bopper bite her.
Cecily thought Sicily less thistly than Thessaly.
Irish wristwatch.
Peggy Babcock.
The bog above Bob Gorman's bog.
Pleasant mother pheasant plucker.
Red Leather, Yellow Leather.
Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry.
Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper.
Smiley shlug with Shloer.

Unique New York.

Another example

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked,
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?


Swan swam over the sea,
Swim Swan swim,
Swan swam back again,
Well swam Swan.

Tongue-twisters in different languages

Wikiquote has quotations related to Tongue-twisters.

Tongue-twisters exist in many different languages. For example:

  • Bengali: "Pakihi paka pepe khai." (Bird eats ripen papaya).
  • Bulgarian: "Петър плет плете, през три пръта преплита. Подпри, Петре, плета, падна, Петре, плетът." (Peter is plashing a fence. He skips every three rods. Prop up the fence, Peter. The fence is down, Peter).
  • Catalan: Setze jutges d'un jutjat mengen fetge d'un penjat, si el penjat es despengés es menjaria els setze fetges dels setze jutges que l'han jutjat. (16 trial judges eat the liver of a hanged man, if the hanged man comes down from the gallows he would eat the 16 livers from the 16 judges who condemned him)
  • Cantonese Chinese: "入實驗室撳緊急掣 (yap sat yim sat gam gan gap jai)." (Enter the laboratory and press the emergency button.) "郵差叔叔送信純熟，迅速送出 (yau chai suk suk sung sun seon suk, seon chuk sung chut)" (The mailman was experienced with letter delivery and delivered rapidly.)
  • Mandarin Chinese: "四十四隻死石獅子." (44 dead stone lions.) "西施死時四十四" (Xishi (A legendary beauty in ancient China) was 44 years old when she died.)
  • Croatian: "Pop kopa prokop, kroz prokop kopa pop". (The priest digs a ditch, through ditch the priest digs.) "Kuja zalajala, prolajala i odlajala. (The bitch has started to bark, began barking, and ended barking.)
  • Czech: "Strč prst skrz krk." (Stick finger through neck.) - "Třistatřicettři stříbrných stříkaček stříkalo přes třistatřicettři stříbrných střech." (333 silver squirts spurted over 333 silver roofs.)
  • Danish: "Ringeren i Ringe ringer ringere end ringeren i Ringsted ringer." (The bellman at Ringe rings worse than the bellman at Ringsted) - "Fire flade flødefade" (Four flat cream dishes) - "Fire flade flødeboller på et fladt flødebollefad (Four flat chocolate marshmallows on a flat chocolate marshmallows dish) - "Bispens gipsgebis" (The bishops gypsum dentures)
  • Dutch: "Achthonderd achtentachtig 's-Gravenhaagse gereedschapschuurtjes." (Eight hundred and eighty eight tool sheds in the Hague).[4]
  • Esperanto:"Ĝuu ke la heroo opiniis ke li spontanee balaas." (Enjoy that the hero had the opinion that he spontaneously sweeps.)
  • Filipino: "Bumili ako ng bituka ng butiki sa botika." (I bought a lizard's intestine at the drugstore.) "Nakakapagpabagabag" (Bothering/ Disturbing), "Pasko, Paksiw, Pasko, Paksiw..." (Christmas, Paksiw (recipe of food).
  • Finnish:"Kokko! Kokookko kokoon koko kokon? Koko kokonko? Koko kokon." (Kokko (name)! Would you gather up a bonfire? The entire bonfire? (Yes) the entire bonfire.)
  • French: "Tata, ta tarte tatin tenta Tonton, Tonton tâta ta tarte tatin, Tata." (Aunty, your apple tart tempts Uncle; Uncle has touched your apple tart, Aunty.) "Les chaussettes de l'archi-duchesse, sont-elles sèches ou archi-sèches?" (The socks of the duchess, are they dry or extra-dry?) - "Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents six scies scient six cent six cyprès." (If six saws saw six Cypress trees, six hundred and six saws would saw six hundred and six Cypress trees.") (Pronounced: Si si si si si siprɛ, si sɑ̃ si si si si sɑ̃ si siprɛ.)
  • German: "Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische. Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz." (Fisher's Fritz fishes fresh fish, fresh fish are fished by fisher's Fritz.) "Zehn zahme Ziegen zogen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo" (Ten tame goats pulled ten Zentner of sugar to the zoo), "Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid" (Red cabbage stays red cabbage and bridal dress stays a bridal dress)
  • Georgian: "ბაყაყი წყიყინებს წყალში" (baq’aq’i c’q’iq’inebs c’q’alši – The frog croaks in the water.)
  • Greek: "Άσπρη πέτρα ξέξασπρη και απ'τον ήλιο ξεξασπρότερη" (a white stone very bright, even brighter than the sun.)
  • Hebrew: "גנן גידל דגן בגן, דגן גדול גדל בגן" (ganan gidel dagan bagan, dagan gadol gadal bagan - A gardener grew cereals in the garden, big cereals grew up in the garden.) - , "שרה שרה שיר שמח, שיר שמח שרה שרה" (sara shara shir sameah, shir sameah shara hara - Sarah sings a happy song, happy song sings Sarah.)
  • Hungarian: "Stresszes strucc sztreccs dressz." (Spandex dress for a stressful ostrich.) - "Fekete bikapata kopog a pepita patika köveken." (Black bull hooves knocking on the black and white checked floortiles of a pharmacy.)
  • Indonesian: "Ular melingkar-lingkar di atas pagar." (Snake curls upon the fence.), for those who cannot trill their Rs, the phrase is somewhat hard to pronounce. - "Kuku kaki kakekku/kakakku kaku-kaku (kayak paku)." (My grandfather's/my brother's nails are stiff [like a nail].), this is a play of Ks and glottal stops.
  • Irish: Ná bac le mac an bhacaigh agus ní bhacaigh mac an bhacaigh leat. "Don't bother the beggar's son and the beggar's son won't bother you."
  • Italian: "Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento, tutti e trentatré trotterellando." (Thirty-three Trentine people came into Trento, all the thirty-three trotting along.) - "Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa." (Under the bench the goat lives, on the bench the goat dies.)
  • Japanese: "坊主が上手に屏風に坊主の絵を (Bōzu ga byōbu ni jōzu ni bōzu no e o kaita)." (A priest skillfully drew a picture of a priest on folding screen.) - "Namamugi, namagome, namatamago." (Uncooked wheat, uncooked rice, raw egg.)
  • Korean: "간장공장 공장장은 강 공장장이고, 된장 공장 공장장은 장 공장장이다.(Ganjang-gongjang gongjangjang-eun Kang gongjangjang-igo doenjang-gongjang gongjangjang-eun Chang gongjangjang-ida. - The soy sauce plant manager is manager Kang, and soy paste plant manager is manager Chang.)" "저 분은 백 법학박사이고 이 분은 박 법학박사이다.(Jo buneun Baek bupakbaksa-igo, i buneun Park bupakbaksa-ida. - That person is Dr. Baek of laws, and this person is Dr. Park of laws.)" "저기 저 콩깍지가 깐 콩깍지냐? 안 깐 콩깍지냐?(Jeogi jeo kong-ggakjiga kkan kong-ggakjinya? An kkan kong-ggakjinya? - Are those pea pods shelled pea pods or not shelled pea pods? )" 내가 그린 기린 그림은 잘 그린 기린 그림이고, 니가 그린 기린그림은 못 그린 기린그림이다. (Nega grin girin grimeun jal grin grin grimigo, niga grin girin grimeun mot grin girin grimida. - The giraffe picture that I drew is a well drawn picture, the giraffe picture that you drew is not a well drawn picture.)
  • Latvian: "Uz sešdesmit seši pa smilšainu šoseju." (At 66 on a sandy highway.)
  • Lithuanian:"Šešios žąsys su šešiais žąsyčiais." (6 geese with 6 goslings.)
  • Malay: "Kakakku kata kuku kaki kiriku kaku - ku kikis kuku kaki kiriku." (My older sister says my left toenail is stiff - I scrape my left toenail.)
  • Maltese: "Dari rari tara lira, tara lira, tara re." (In days gone by you rarely saw a Lira {Malta's old currency} when you see a Lira you see a King.)
  • Norwegian: "Ibsens ripsbusker og andre buskvekster." (Ibsen's redcurrant bushes and other shrubs.)
  • Persian: "لیره رو لوله لوله رو لیره" (lireh roo looleh, looleh roo lireh.)
  • Polish: "Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego." (King Carl bought Queen Caroline coral-colored corals). See also Chrząszcz.
  • Portuguese: "O Rato roeu a roupa do Rei de Roma e a Rainha, raivosa, rasgou o resto." (The rat nibbled the clothes of the Roman King, and the angry Queen tore the rest.)" O peito do pé do Pedro é preto" (The Pedro's instep is Black)" Casa suja chão sujo" (Dirty house dirty floor)
  • Romanian: "Capra calcă piatra/piatra crapă-n patru/crăpa-i-ar capul caprei/cum a crăpat capra piatra-n patru." (The goat stepped on the rock/the rock broke in four/may the goat's head break in four/as the goat broke the rock in four.)
  • Russian: "Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет" (Karl u Klary ukral korally, a Klara u Karla ukrala klarnet—Carl stole corals from Clara and Clara stole clarinet from Carl.) - "Еду я по выбоине, никак из выбоины не выеду я." - "ехал грека через реку видел грека в реке рак грека в реку сунул руку рак за руку грека цап."
  • Serbian: "Na vrh brda vrba mrda."/"На врх брда врба мрда." (On the top of the hill osier moves.) -"Gore gore gore gore nego što gore gore dole."/"Горе горе горе горе, него што горе горе доле." (Up there woods burn worse than woods down there.)
  • Sinhala: "Rathu Chiththa De Jathiyayai." (Two types of red cloths.)
  • Sourashtra: "Kallo khallo podi khalo setha ollo kallam layi kalla ollo hoyo!! (Bitter-Gourd fell down in the wet land, and became watery!)
  • Spanish: "Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal." (Three sad tigers swallowed (ate) wheat on a wheat field.) - "Pablito clavó un clavito, ¿dónde está el clavito que clavó Pablito?" (Pablito nailed a little nail, where is the little nail that Pablito nailed?)
  • Swedish: "Sex Laxar I En Laxask." (Six Salmons In A Salmon-tin.) - "Packa Pappas Kappsäck." (Pack Daddys Portmanteau.) - "Kvistfritt kvastskaft" (knot-free broomstick)
  • Malayalam: കളകളമിളകുമോരരുവിയിലലകളിലോരുകുളിരൊരു പുളകം ; ആന അലറലോടെ അലറല്‍ ; സൈക്കിള്‍ റാലി പോലെയല്ല ലോറി റാലി ; തണ്ടുരുളും തടിയുരുളും തടിയിന്മേല്‍ ഒരു ചെറു കുരുമുളകുരുളും
  • Urdu: "Chandu ke chacha ne chandu ki chachi ko Chandni Chowk mein chandni raat mein chaandi ki chammach se chatni chataee." (Chandu's uncle fed Chandu's aunt chutney with a silver spoon on a moonlit night in Chandni Village.)
  • Tamil: ஏழைக் கிழவன் வாழைப்பழத்தோல் வழுக்கி; சருசருக்கி, வழுவழுக்கிக் கீழே விழுந்தான் (The old man slipped on the banana skin and fell down). ஓடுற நரியில ஒரு நரி கிழ நரி, கிழ நரி பிடரியில் ஒரு பிடி நரை முடி. (Among the running foxes, one of the foxes is old. And the old fox has a bunch of grey hair on its nape)
  • Thai: "ชามเขียวคว่ำเช้า ชามขาวคว่ำค่ำ" (Chaam khiaw kwam chaaw, chaam chaaw kwam kham - The green bowl is upside-down in the morning, the white bowl is upside down in the evening.)
  • Turkish: "Şu yoğurdu sarımsaklasak da mı saklasak, sarımsaklamasak da mı saklasak?" (Should we add garlic in that yogurt and keep it then, or should we not add garlic and keep it?)
  • Welsh: "Pesychwch fel y pesychasoch gynt." (Cough like you coughed earlier)

Shibboleths

Shibboleths, that is, phrases in a language that are difficult for someone who is not a native speaker of that language to say might be regarded as a type of tongue-twist[citation needed] An example is Georgian baq'aq'i ts'q'alshi q'iq'inebs ("a frog croaks in the water"), in which "q" is a sort of gulping sound. Another example, the Czech and Slovak strč prst skrz krk ("stick a finger through the throat") is difficult for a non-native speaker due to the absence of vowels, although syllabic r is a common Czech and Slovak sound.

Finger-fumblers

The sign language equivalent of a tongue twister is called a finger-fumbler.[citation needed] According to Susan Fischer, the phrase Good blood, bad blood is a tongue-twister in English as well as a finger-fumbler in ASL.[5]

Alliteration without tongue-twisting

Although tongue-twisters uses alliteration to make them difficult to speak, there are other uses of alliteration that do not result in tongue-twisters. For example:

There's a train at 4:04 said Miss Jenny.
Four tickets I'll take.
Have you any?
Said the man at the door.
"Not four for 4:04,
For four for 4:04 is too many."

No tongue-twister results in this example, because "4" is pronounced the same in all spellings.

In 1951 Danny Kaye recorded a Sylvia Fine song titled Tongue Twisters and this seems to be the original coining of the term.

The children's book Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss consists almost entirely of densely rhyming tongue-twisters.

One of actor Cary Grant's favorite tongue twisters was the phrase "black bug's blood."[6]

The fictional movie, The Rural Juror, in the sitcom 30 Rock was a mystery to most of the characters for a long time since no one was able to decipher from hearing it pronounced ("ruhhr-juhhrr") how it was spelled.

See also

References

  1. ^ Poundstone, William. "The Ultimate". williampoundstone.net. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  2. ^ Shelley Emmling. "The Fossil Hunter". Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  3. ^ Contest announced in issue of November/December 1979; results announced in issue of March/April 1980
  4. ^ Tongue-twisters on Dutch Wikipedia
  5. ^ Aristar, Anthony; Dry, Helen (27 May 1991). "Linguist List, Vol. 2". University of Michigan. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  6. ^ Grant, Jennifer (2011). Good Stuff: a Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-307-26710-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) page 119.
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